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Distinguished Guests,
You heard the statistics: there are 300,000, some even say 350,000, drug users in the State of Israel. There are 20,000 to 25,000 addicts – what we call hard users. The amount of money we refer to per drug addict, is approximately $3000 per day. Perhaps this is not a lot of money, but it is over and above the average salary in our economy. Usually, drug addicts do not work, so in order to be able obtain their daily dosage, they are dragged into various criminal acts, including damage to property, and often involve physical injuries. That is, a full circle of social perversion and crime becomes an inseparable part of the life of an addict and also involves those who are not addicted to drugs.
There is no simple and easy way to deal with this problem. I assume that you heard many explanations and analyses regarding psychological aspects and types of characters who develop dependency for drugs and are dragged into drug abuse – because of personal psychological causes related to their background, education, social environment and family and have nothing to do with any focused external influence. However, we are aware of the fact that this phenomenon can be examined in the context of social plight, poverty, hopelessness, of a social surrounding which is criminal, and intentionally creates a market of users. The market of users increases the profits of criminals, dealers and all those who run this industry, at the head of which are extremely cynical people. Perhaps they do not use drugs, but they cause harm to the lives of thousands of people and thousands of families who fall apart because of this horrendous deterioration into drug addiction.
The big question is: how do we create a reality which seriously decreases exposure and danger? I do not wish to mislead you. I wish I could be as optimistic as Ronny Douek, and believe that we could clean up everything. I do not know of any society on the face of this earth which succeeded in doing that. However, I think we could achieve a serious decrease.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a saying which reflects the Jewish tradition, “He who saves one soul, it is as if he saves the entire whole world.” That is, if we truly succeed in making a difference in a few thousand cases, then there is no limit to the contribution we would make to the quality of those lives – to society as well as to those individuals.
This effort cannot focus on only one authority, but should be a comprehensive social and national effort led by the Government. This issue is familiar to me from my past, but Ronny could not have known that. Twenty years ago, I served as Chairman of the Public Committee against Alcoholism. I invested much time in that capacity. We had a rehabilitation center in Ramat Gan near Bialik Street. I went there quite often and spoke with the people there. I saw how lives were wrecked and the misery of living in the shadow of alcoholism. I also saw how these things could change and how the quality of people’s lives could be significantly improved – and not only the lives of the addicts. We all know that if there is one person in the family addicted to drugs, the life of the entire family and circles which surround that single person, all change – the nuclear family, the extended family, neighbors, acquaintances, and friends – an entire world. I therefore know how threatening this is. However, I believe we are capable of dealing with this and I am aware of our responsibility as Government, to act as the leading entity, which decrees, sees goals, and allocates resources.
I cannot say more than that today. Give me a chance and we’ll talk again in a few weeks.
Prime Minister Sharon recognized the seriousness of the threat and the importance of the struggle. We discussed it often. He told me about his meeting with Ronny Douek and about the significance he attached to this issue. We will continue in this path. We will set perennial and multi-layered estimations to deal with this. There is not only one component. It could always be claimed that it is the responsibility of the State, and not voluntary bodies. However, there are hardly any fields in which the third sector is not involved, and I view it as a very positive phenomenon, that a section of the public which has capabilities and means says: “I can give something back to society and my way of doing it is to invest in fields which could influence the quality of life of various sectors and tackle various predicaments.” There is an increasing number of such people and I am proud of them.
That is why the Prime Minister approached Ronny Douek. Because of the Prime Minister’s commitment to improve the quality of life in Israeli society, he established “Zionism 2000”. He afforded me the opportunity to see a number of cases and they were very impressive and testified to the great commitment and willingness to invest in human resources, over and above the obligations which are shouldered by every citizen of the State.
The Government of Israel, the Anti-Drug Authority (and Anti-Alcohol and Alcoholism), various volunteer groups and the academia (which often provides the statistics, defines the extent of the phenomena, characterizes their implications and outcome and is therefore a very important partner) – will all participate in this effort. I promise you to follow-up on it. Israel’s next Government will act to change the order of priorities in Israeli society and will make a tremendous effort to make a difference in fields which have been neglected because there were more important things. We will restore the ‘right’ order, the ‘right’ logic, and attach significance to what is truly important, so that the State of Israel will become a country in which it is a pleasure to live.
Thank you.
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